Xiao Bu wins the Australian Open Asia-Pacific Wild Card Tournament, Chinese players maintain three major records

Last week in Chengdu, Mongolian player Buyun Chaokete beat Japanese player Santilan 6-4, 6-2 in the final of the Australian Open Asia-Pacific Wild Card Tournament, claiming the championship and obtaining a precious wild card to participate directly in the 2026 Australian Open main event.

It is worth mentioning that this is the first time in seven years that a Chinese male tennis player has captured the men's singles title at the Australian Open Asia-Pacific Wild Card Tournament. Moreover, Chinese male tennis players still hold several records at this event that remain unbroken. So, what are these records? Today, this article will take you through them.

Let me first introduce the past men's singles champions of the Australian Open Asia-Pacific Wild Card Tournament: Wu Di from China won in 2012 and 2013, Zhang Ze from China in 2014, Yoshihito Nishioka from Japan in 2015, Denis Istomin from Uzbekistan in 2016, Kwon Soon-woo from South Korea in 2017, Li Zhe from China in 2018, Ryoma Ito from Japan in 2019, Sarim from Thailand in 2024, and Buyun Chaokete from China in 2025.

From this list, it is clear that since Wu Di became the first Chinese male tennis player to enter a Grand Slam main draw by winning in 2012, Chinese male players have won five titles at the Australian Open Asia-Pacific Wild Card Tournament. To date, the tournament has been held only ten times. In other words, Chinese male players have claimed half of all championships, which is the first record held by Chinese male tennis players at this event.

Wu Di is not only the first Chinese male tennis player to win the Australian Open Asia-Pacific Wild Card Tournament but also the only one so far to successfully defend his title at this event. No other player has managed to retain the championship here besides him.

Although Li Na, the only Chinese female tennis player to have won a Grand Slam, once sharply criticized Wu Di, it must be acknowledged that Wu Di was the first Chinese male player to compete in a Grand Slam main draw and the first to win a challenger title. Furthermore, for a long time, he held the record for the most wins by a Chinese male player at the Shanghai Masters. Objectively speaking, Wu Di’s contributions to Chinese men's tennis are evident, marking the second record held by Chinese male players at the Australian Open Asia-Pacific Wild Card Tournament.

Only three players over the age of thirty have won the men's singles title at the Australian Open Wild Card Tournament: Istomin, Li Zhe, and Ryoma Ito, who were 30, 32, and 31 years old respectively when they won. This shows that Chinese player Li Zhe is the oldest to win the Australian Open Wild Card Tournament, which is the third record held by Chinese male players at this event.

These records demonstrate the strong competitiveness of Chinese male tennis players at the Australian Open Wild Card Tournament. Last week, Buyun Chaokete became the first Chinese male player born after 2000 to win this title. We hope Chinese players will continue to defend this event next year. Let us quietly look forward to it! That’s the tennis story for today; more to come tomorrow.(Source: Tennis Home, Author: Yixin Jushi)